Marco Bezzecchi
Pramac are one of few MotoGP teams with no riders currently under contract heading into the 2026 season.
They signed Miguel Oliveira and Jack Miller to one-year deals and their performances haven’t been ground-breaking so far.
Leaving Ducati was always going to result in a tricky period for Pramac, but Yamaha’s recent improvements leave them in good standing for the future.
Neither one of their riders are in the top 16 of the MotoGP riders’ standings, which is a big drop from last year when they claimed the title with Jorge Martin.
Miller was ‘devastated’ after the French Grand Prix where he had an opportunity to claim a heroic victory before a dramatic highside.
Yamaha are endangering Miller behind the scenes by talking to other riders, according to Chris Vermeulen, which will only be adding pressure to the Aussie.
Paolo Pavesio says Pramac’s 2026 rider line-up will be decided before the summer break
As part of their new partnership, it’s common for Yamaha to have a say in who gets to ride the Pramac bike in the future because it has a direct impact on them.
They need two individuals who can help develop their bike, help get it back to the front of the grid and deliver results. That sort of consistency across the board is hard to come by.
Yamaha boss Paolo Pavesio has now revealed when Pramac will make a call on their riders for 2026, and it isn’t as far away as you might imagine.
“This was event number 6 – we’ll draw conclusions about what we have and what we want by the summer break,” he told Speedweek.
“Anytime before that would be too early for our current riders. It would be very unfair, especially to Miguel, to put a stop to it now. His injury was more serious than we initially thought.”
Why it would be unfair for Pramac not to give Miguel Oliveira more time to prove himself
After Oliveira faced an unclear MotoGP return timeline, it took him a few weeks to get back to fitness after a shunt with Fermin Aldeguer at the second race of the season.
In fact, it was nearly two months, with the Portuguese rider finally returning to action last time out at Le Mans.
Since arriving from Trackhouse, he hasn’t been given a fair shot to adjust to his new machinery and show his speed.
He may have been on for a good result before crashing out in France, too, which would have been painful.
Waiting until the summer break allows Pramac to give him a fair shot at delivering, and maybe even retaining his ride for 2026.
Receive racing news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
